Transformer Vault
Placement and
Space Requirements
Consolidated Edison Company
of New York, Inc.
4 Irving Place
New York NY 10003
www.conEd.com
Transformer Vault Placement and Space Requirements
Whether you’re constructing a new building
or adding electric load to an existing one,
Con Edison strongly encourages you to contact us early in the design process to discuss
your transformer vault requirements. This
step will help you to avoid unnecessary and
costly design changes or delays that may
result if these requirements are not incorporated into your final building design.
Typical transformer vault space requirements depend on the number of transformers
required to supply electricity to your building. In addition, there may be an incremental customer cost to supply service at your
requested point of entry. Your final service
design will be developed after Con Edison
receives your contractor work request and/
or load letter with details of your entire
building’s new or additional electrical
requirements.
The following information will assist you in
planning for your building’s electric service
configuration and installation of sidewalk
transformer vaults.
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Con Edison supplies service to buildings at our
standard voltage of 120/208. In addition, 265/460Volt or high-tension service is available, but may
involve an incremental cost to the customer.
When transformer vaults are required to serve the
building’s load, it is essential that you consider the
vault requirements before you proceed with the
design of your building. This will mitigate costly
design changes for you and/or delays to your
project.
All Con Edison transformer vaults require natural
ventilation and must have sidewalk gratings, as
noted in the enclosed drawings, which identify the
space requirements for sidewalk transformer vault
installations. The gratings provide ventilation for
the transformer as well as a means of entry for Con
Edison personnel to maintain, remove, or install
equipment.
Con Edison strives to install all transformer vaults
in the sidewalk because it is the optimum location
not only for installation, but also for maintenance
and operation of the equipment. In addition, when
a 265/460-Volt installation is installed, the transformer vaults are installed within the sidewalk area
but a separate network compartment is required and
is installed in a controlled environment within the
building.
When transformer vaults are installed within the
sidewalk area, many aspects of the operation must
be taken into consideration in order to ensure that
adequate space and clearance are provided to meet
all New York City Department of Transportation
(NYCDOT) and Con Edison requirements. The
following requirements should be considered in
locating the transformer vaults in the sidewalk area
around your site:
1
NYCDOT Requirements
• Doors and gratings in sidewalks are not permitted in front of any entrances, including building,
store, and delivery.
• Typically, the NYCDOT requires a clear, unobstructed path (no gratings) between the building
and the curb line, and a continuous passage along
the sidewalk that has a five-foot solid concrete
walking surface.
• If a customer proposes to place vaults in conflict
with these NYCDOT requirements, he or she must
first get approval from the NYCDOT.
For more information, visit the NYCDOT Web site
at www.nyc.gov/html/dot/pdf/hwyrules.pdf and
refer to section 2-13 m.
Con Edison Requirements
Clear access:
• No trees, planters or street furniture can be installed near transformer vaults.
• The customer is to remove any trees or planters
and relocate street furniture within proposed vault
location.
• Trees or planters should be a minimum of 10 feet
away; however, this distance may be greater to
avoid tree branches growing over vaults.
• Street furniture should be at least five feet from
transformer vaults.
• No awnings, building overhangs, or canopies can
be installed over transformer vaults.
• Transformer vaults must be located at least five
feet from fire hydrants.
• Transformer vaults should not be located in front
of or behind bus-stop shelters.
April 2006
Driveway or loading dock:
• The customer is to secure NYCDOT approval for
transformer vault location.
• The customer must pay incremental Con Edison
costs when vaults are located in driveways.
These costs will include special grating designs,
increased maintenance, etc.
• The customer must agree to provide Con Edison
unrestricted, 24-hour access for maintenance and/
or routine work. This agreement will be in writing
and will be transferable to subsequent building
owners.
Future curbs:
• Transformer vaults should be placed in the sidewalk area, which cannot be affected by a street
widening.
Contaminated sites:
• Con Edison does not install transformer vaults in
contaminated soil. If the soil is contaminated, the
customer will be required to remediate the condition. When ground water is associated with a contaminated site, a containment structure is required
to house the transformer vault.
• If the site is a dry location (no water condition),
the customer may over-excavate and replace with
clean fill.
• The customer will incur the cost to remediate the
site, which would include the design and construction of the containment structure, and/or to
over-excavate and replace with clean fill.
• The customer must provide Con Edison with soil
borings, environmental study and building plans
at the start of design. Con Edison approval on the
proposed remediation method is required.
2
Flood plain or high-water table:
• Con Edison will only install a submersible
120/208-Volt designed facility below grade in
areas located in the flood plain or that have a
water table above the floor of the vaults. Special
construction methods, which may result in incremental customer costs, will be required to
mitigate water impact on the facilities.
• Con Edison does not install 265/460-Volt transformer installations below grade in the flood plain.
This installation is not a submersible design and
must be installed at least one foot above the
flood plain.
Other location and design requirements:
• Network compartments cannot be installed directly below a plaza area.
• No customer piping can be installed within transformer vaults or network compartments.
• Network compartments cannot be installed in the
lowest point in the building’s basement.
Developer Agreements
To facilitate your building’s construction activities
and provide you with full control of your service
installation, we encourage you to install the transformer vaults and associated facilities under a
developer’s agreement. This agreement will allow
you to maintain control of the site and all construction logistics, thereby eliminating the utility vaults
from your critical path. In addition, under this
agreement, we can establish your temporary service
through your permanent facilities, thereby eliminating the need for you to have a separate temporary
service. Con Edison will reimburse you at standard
company prices to perform this work.
We recommend that you review these requirements
and drawings to ensure that the planning of your
new electric service facilities are incorporated into
your new building design with minimal impact on
your project.
We look forward to partnering with you on your
project and the timely completion of its service
facilities.
For additional information, contact the
Con Edison project manager for your site at
http://q050-w5.coned.com/es/contacts.pdf.
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